Daniel Englander
Jim Rogers: “Coal is Not a Four Letter Word” April 12, 2008 at 2:06 PM
Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers thinks about three numbers when he falls asleep at night: 3, 12, 41. His company is the third largest greenhouse gas emitter in the country and number 12 internationally. If Duke Energy were a country, it would be the 41st largest emitter in the world. At today’s MIT Energy Conference Rogers decried the fact that “we’re still operating on electricity 1.0.” But, he believes, that if today’s attendees “can develop the technology, I’m going to be able to scale it.”
But, with an annual capital budget of $5 billion, what has Rogers done to move his mission forward? Not much it seems, especially when you consider his admission that Rogers has not spoken with his counterparts in India and China about developing technologies and markets to address their companies’ contributions to the climate crisis. Although, because “part of the challenge is to take the four million customers and five states [he] serve[s] and help them across that bridge” to a low carbon future, it’s easy to assume his domestic focus is pretty sharp.
Rogers is “a great believer in an economy wide cap-and trade,” “though “the first thing we can do is fund technology. We can do that. We don’t have to wait for cap-and-trade legislation. That’s not going to happen next year. It will happen in nine or ten.” In one of his few semi-concrete announcements, Rogers did say he’s “going to help scale solar technology.” He thinks “25 to 50 percent [of the cost] is installation. I’m going to use my trucks and warehouses and I’m going to cut that installation cost. That technology’s going to be part of our technology.”
It’s great to have a guy like Rogers on board, which is more than I can say companies like Peabody and American Electric Power. But until his statements are more than just promises and platitudes, until he drills down and gets those trucks and warehouses in motion, and until he flexes some political muscle to move real regulatory reform that incentivizes energy efficiency, I’ll maintain the line of not trusting any energy company over 30 years old. Just kidding. No energy company over 10 years old.
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